Socioeconomic Impacts of Infrastructure Investment in Eswatini: the Case of LUSIP
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville ScholarWorks@UARK Theses and Dissertations 8-2018 Socioeconomic Impacts of Infrastructure Investment in Eswatini: The aC se of LUSIP Noussayma Njeim University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd Part of the Agricultural Economics Commons, and the Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis Commons Recommended Citation Njeim, Noussayma, "Socioeconomic Impacts of Infrastructure Investment in Eswatini: The asC e of LUSIP" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 2944. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2944 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu, ccmiddle@uark.edu. Socioeconomic Impacts of Infrastructure Investment in Eswatini: The Case of LUSIP A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Agricultural Economics by Noussayma Njeim American University of Beirut Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration, 2015 American University of Beirut Bachelor of Science in Political Science, 2015 August 2018 University of Arkansas This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council. _____________________________________ Lawton Lanier Nalley, Ph.D. Thesis Director _____________________________________ _____________________________________ Jennie S. Popp, Ph.D. Thula Sizwe Dlamini, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member _____________________________________ Philipp Grundmann, Ph.D. Committee Member Abstract The 2016 Eswatini Vulnerability Assessment Report indicated that over half of the Eswatini population required livelihood support due to the severe El Niño drought. Since agriculture is the backbone of Eswatini’s economy, investments in climate change mitigation are needed in order to help protect the agriculture sector and associated livelihoods from increased yield and profit variability associated with future droughts. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) estimates climate change in Eswatini could reduce rain-fed agricultural yields by up to 50%, threating the ability of Eswatini to be food secure. As such, investing in water capture systems could help mitigate changes to both the amount and frequency of rainfall. Investments in water storage could be viewed as a type of food security insurance in the Eswatini context. The Government of Eswatini commissioned the construction of the Lubovane Dam in 2003 to provide water, both for agricultural and household usage, as part of the Lower Usuthu Irrigation Project (LUSIP). LUSIP aimed to provide irrigation water for 11,500 ha by 2015. LUSIP was also forecasted to provide an additional 750,000-person days /year of on-farm employment mainly on sugarcane, banana, and maize fields and 36,000 days of non-farm employment/year in the new businesses and services that would have emerged after its completion in 2010. Eswatini had to allocate limited public funds for the implementation of LUSIP and without tangible evidence on the returns on investment, obtaining funding or future irrigation projects could be -difficult. As such, in 2018 the Swaziland Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (SEPARC) set out to estimate the benefits of LUSIP in the town of Siphofaneni using a comprehensive survey. Using the data collected by SEPARC this study set out to validate the LUSIP impact through social, economic and environmental metrics. The survey results suggest that LUSIP has provided employment opportunities, increased wages and incomes, thus increasing the people’s ability to save. The survey also found that the increased income and savings appeared to lead to increased food security as more people can now afford purchase their basic food needs as water is now more readily available throughout the year. Dedication To my beloved family, Every step and decision I took I carried my family in my thoughts. This achievement is not just mine, it has the whole family behind it, for that I am very thankful and grateful to have such an amazing support system that never left my side. I want to thank my parents for being there for me through every step of the way and believing in me, even in times where I didn’t believe in myself. I want to thank my brothers for supporting me throughout the years and looking out for me, teaching me how to depend on myself, and most importantly being there at any time of the day to support me. Acknowledgments Behind this thesis, there are many people I would like to thank and acknowledge for their help and support. I want to thank my promoter Dr. Lanier Nalley, along with all my thesis committee members for their guidance along my work and writing and their valuable comments and useful recommendations. I would also like to thank Dr. Thula Sizwe Dlamini and the SEPARC team who made my trip to the Kingdom of Eswatini memorable and were of great help during data collection. I would also like to thank Ms. Alicia Minden for always being there and helping out with all the errands. I want to express my gratitude to all my friends, my friends at home, my IMRD friends in Europe, and the friends I made here in the University of Arkansas who were like family to me making my graduate years pass smoothly and leaving me with great memories that I will cherish for life. In addition I would like to thank my family, Aminta, Maria, Annie, Mouhammad, Lea, Rita, Layal, and Bill and Jen Maroon for their support in my trip to Swaziland. Table of Contents Literature Review............................................................................................................................ 1 The Kingdom of Eswatini ........................................................................................................... 1 Food Security ........................................................................................................................... 1 Health....................................................................................................................................... 2 Economy and role of agriculture ............................................................................................. 2 Drought in Eswatini .................................................................................................................... 3 Impact of drought on agriculture ............................................................................................. 5 Impact of drought on livestock ................................................................................................ 9 Impact of drought on health..................................................................................................... 9 The Lubombo region characteristics ......................................................................................... 11 Importance of Infrastructure Investments on Increasing Returns in Eswatini .............................. 11 LUSIP (Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project) ............................................................ 13 The Role of Infrastructure Investment on Economic Growth ................................................... 17 Objective and Relevance of the Research ..................................................................................... 19 Data analysis, presentation and interpretation .............................................................................. 22 Survey Design and Implementation .......................................................................................... 22 Demographics of the survey participants .............................................................................. 23 Gender of the survey participants .......................................................................................... 23 Education level of respondents .............................................................................................. 23 Household Livelihoods Status ................................................................................................... 26 Income status ......................................................................................................................... 26 Income generating activities .................................................................................................. 28 Employment prior to and after LUSIP .................................................................................. 31 Effects of LUSIP on household livelihood status ..................................................................... 32 LUSIP and services provided in Siphofaneni ........................................................................ 41 Reasons for businesses to emerge after LUSIP ..................................................................... 43 Impact of LUSIP on respondents’ livelihoods ...................................................................... 45 General assessment of Siphofaneni before and after the completion of LUSIP ....................... 48 Conclusion and recommendations ................................................................................................ 51 References ..................................................................................................................................... 55 Appendix ......................................................................................................................................